After a bruising series of recalls in 2010, Toyota Motor Corp. has quietly implemented a number of new quality and safety-related reforms to its operations, even as it denies its vehicles are prone to defective parts or engineering laws. Toyota admits that its number of recalls has increased but insists that it is because the company now tags vehicles even for issues that it had not previously considered problematic as part of its new effort to appease customers. It claims this improvement contrasts with its slow response in the past, which had hurt its reputation.

1. Develop a diagram that summarizes what Toyota has done in response to its recent quality recall problems. Focus on the changes by functional area (i. e., Management, Product Design, Quality, and Manufacturing).

2. Evaluate the statement in the case made by Toru Sakuragi that “. . . Toyota has been caught between a need to cut costs to overcome the strong yen and the need to improve quality to prevent recalls,” and that “[t] hey are now pursuing both strategies, but they are essentially at odds with one another.” Is this a realistic strategy? Do you have suggestions for how the strategy might be improved?

3. Suggest improvements that you feel could be made to Toyota’s quality program. Also, what might Toyota do to improve its image to the consumer relative to quality?